1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to foul weather garments. More particularly, this invention relates to foul weather garments characterized as permitting body perspiration to be vented therefrom to prevent condensation from accumulating within the foul weather garment.
2. Description of the Background Art
Presently there exists numerous types of foul weather garments which are each designed to be worn by a wearer during foul weather to shield the wearer from foul weather precipitation, such as rain, sleet, snow, fog or seaspray. The most basic type of foul weather gear usually consists of a rain coat and a bibbed trouser manufactured from water impermeable material such as a rubberized fabric or a urethane-coated fabric. The coat is worn over the bib and upper edges of the trousers so that precipitation impinging upon the rain coat flows off of the back and shoulder of the wearer down to the trousers. A hood is usually provided which is sewn to the collar of the coat to prevent precipitation impinging upon the wearer's head from flowing down inside of the coat via the neck opening. In other foul weather garments, the coat and trousers are manufactured as a one-piece garment, similar to a jumpsuit, having a zippered, or otherwise fastenable, front opening.
A properly manufactured foul weather garment as outlined above will, under virtually all circumstances, keep the wearer dry from precipitation. Unfortunately, a major disadvantage to these foul weather garments is the retention of human perspiration from the wearer of the garment. Specifically, the body perspiration of the wearer is trapped within the garment between the skin of the wearer and the waterproofed material of which the garment is constructed. This body perspiration, while initially in a vapor state, will condense on the inner surface of the garment and, consequently, dampen the wearer's other clothing. It can be readily appreciated that extended wear of such foul weather garments and the resulting large accumulation and condensation of body vapors will, eventually, completely wet the wearer's clothing.
In an effort to minimize condensation of body perspiration vapor, another type of foul weather garment was developed which included various vented openings. Most of these vented openings consisted of vents positioned within the underarm of the garment at the location at which the sleeve is connected to the body of the garment, while others also included a hooded vent positioned laterally along the width of the back panel of the garment. In each situation, the vents function to allow at least some body perspiration vapors to exit the garment prior to condensation. This type of garment was widely accepted throughout the industry as one solution to the problem of condensation. However, virtually none of these vented foul weather garments allowed the complete escape of all of the perspiration vapors. As a result, condensation and accumulation of body vapors within the garment would eventually occur and cause wetting of the wearer's clothing.
In recognition that vented foul weather garments could never vent all of the body vapors and that accumulation of moisture was inevitable, many attempts have been made to develop fabrics which allowed body vapors to pass therethrough while preventing precipitation such as rainfall and snowfall from passing through the fabric to wet the wearer. One specific type of such fabric is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,234,637 entitled "Microporous Protective Coverings", issued to Sewell, et al., the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. The Sewell patent discloses a flexible, microporous, non-water-soluble, non-skin toxic film for use in protective garments such as diver's suits, foul weather suits and the like. The microporous film is characterized as having a porosity which permits the passage of body vapors in one direction while preventing, at least up to a modest external pressures, the counterpassage of water in the opposite direction. Foul weather garments manufactured from the fabric disclosed in the Sewell patent have accomplished the aforementioned desire to allow the passage of body vapors through the fabric of the garment. The garment also works reasonably well in prevent light precipitation impingeing upon the garment from passing through the film and wetting the wearer's clothing. Unfortunately, however, during heavy precipitation, a more than modest external fluid pressure is exerted on the fabric as each droplet of water impinges upon the same. This causes at least a portion of the droplet of water to actually force itself through the film and wet the wearer's clothing. Likewise, the fabric is subjected to more than modest external fluid pressures at stress points in the garment such as the top of the shoulders, the underarm, the seat of the pants, and at joints such as shoulder, elbow and knee joints. Consequently, precipitation is forced through the fabric at these points and, eventually, completely wets the wearer's clothing. A foul weather garment manufactured from this fabric, or similar fabrics, is, therefore, substantially limited in its use to non-vigorous, standing activity during light precipitation.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus which overcomes the aforementioned inadequacies of the prior art devices and provides an improvement which is a significant contribution to the advancement of the foul weather garment art.
Another object of this invention is to provide a foul weather garment which functions to prevent heavy precipitation and other moisture from wetting the clothing of the wearer of the garment.
Another object of this invention is to provide a foul weather garment which prevents condensing body perspiration vapors from wetting the wearer's clothing.
Another object of this invention is to provide a foul weather garment which is comfortably worn by the wearer without restriction or undue bulkiness.
Another object of this invention is to provide a foul weather garment which can be manufactured with conventional sewing equipment, thereby reducing the cost of manufacture of the same.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.